captioning made possible by johnson & johnson, where quality products for the american family have been a tradition for generations >> osgood: good morning. i'm charles osgood and this is sunday morning. we're making our list and checking it twice. and for some, we owe gifts to a book might be nice. the question is, what sort of a book would be a traditional book from a major publisher or an e book, maybe even published directly by the author? that's a question rit a braver will be exploring in our sunday morning cover story. then it's on to a universal

actor from across the sea seen by as many fans as a truly great scott. this morning our tracy smith pays him a visit. >> may the force be with you. reporter: ewan macgregor played everything from a jedi to a junky. but his latest role is something both new and very familiar. what was it like playing a dad? >> i loved it. it comes very naturally because i've been one for a long time, you know. >> reporter: the roles and real life of ewan macgregor later on sunday morning. >> osgood: downtown abbey is a tv hit series about life in a downtown manor in life gone by. martha teichner has discovered more. >> reporter: the hard part was not getting in the way. >> and action. reporter: we were on the set as season 3 of downtown abbey was being shot. >> i've given my life to downtown. >> reporter: for a downtown fan like me, it was an adjustment

realizing the phenomenon is fictional. >> his wardrobe or his house or his heating bills, thankfully. >> reporter: behind the the scenes of downtown abbey later this sunday morning. >> osgood: bruno mars is one of the biggest names in the music world today but his success was anything but written in the stars. he'll be talking about it with our lee cowan. >> reporter: he is pop music's stylish wonder-kid. bruno mars has taken the charts by storm. but his first label dropped him. he almost didn't get another. >> why would we sign you if they didn't get you right? it's your fault, you know. >> reporter: how bruno mars bounced back. later on sunday morning. >> osgood: the way hollywood special effects people create vivid images is about much more than technology alone. as far as we the viewers are

concerned, it's magic. anthony mason goes behind the scenes with andy serkis. >> reporter: the the face isn't familiar... >> i like the an anonimity thati have. >> reporter: ... the voice should be. as gollum in the blockbuster lord of the rings trilogy and now the hobbit, andy serkis pioneered acting for computer animation. ahead, the man who created gollum. >> or the gollum who created the man. >> reporter: andy serkis, later on sunday morning. >> osgood: steve hartman introduces us to a couple who made football a family affair. we get a visit from techno-clause, our david pogue bearing gifts. we'll be remember jazz great dave brbake. but first the headlines for this sunday morning the ninth of december 2012. an american doctor abducted by the taliban five days ago in afghanistan has been rescued.

he was freed early today in a joint u.s.-afghan operation ordered after intelligence revealed that his life was in danger. in a televised speech last night venezuela's president hugo chavez revealed that his cancer has returned. chavez travels to cuba today for his third cancer operation in 18 months. governor of south africa says that 94-year-old nelson mandela is in the hospital for tests. the former president is said to be doing well. florida's former republican governor charlie crist has switched political parties. he's now a democrat. speculation crist may run for governor again in 2014 challenging the republican who currently holds office, governor rick scott. in washington state, dozens of same-sex couples waited in line overnight. today is the first day that they can legally marry there. in sports, texas a&m's quarterback johnny manzel became the first freshman ever to win

college football's heisman trophy last night. known official as johnny football led the aggies to a 10-2 record this season including last month's upset victory over then top ranked alabama. at the 113th army-navy game in philadelphia yesterday, army looking to avoid its 11th straight loss to the mid shipmen launched a drive later in the game only to see it come to not with this fumble. navy sunk the army 17-13 and took home the coveted commander in chief's trophy yet again. police have charged dallas cowboys' nose tackle josh brent with intoxication manslaughter after a crash that killed teammate jerry browne. the practice squad linebacker died when brent's car overturned after hitting a curb early yesterday. brent was arrested after he reportedly failed a sobriety test. here's today's weather. a line of storms is bringing snow and cold to the upper

midwest. and rain from texas to connecticut. the week ahead will be mostly cool but mostly free of rain or snow. next. >> you're publishing as you're watching. >> osgood: do it yourself. and later,

>> osgood: even john lennon, the famous beatle needed a publisher for his first book "in his own right" back in 1964. today authors nobody ever heard had can publish their own work all by themselves in their own right, as it were. our cover story is reported now by rit a braver. >> reporter: what were you living in when you wrote the first book. >> we had 700 square feet that was... that was finished. >> reporter: richard paul evans went from that salt lake city house to this one, all because of a little tale he wrote for his daughters. you didn't think, okay, i want to sell this and people are going to buy this and everyone will fall in love with this book. >> the idea of being a novelist is really romantic but it's kind of the same as being a president of the united states. it's like it's not going to happen. >> reporter: but it did happen for rick evans. you may remember the christmas box, a mega hit 20 years ago. so this is the original little book that you published.

evans first printed only 20 copies of the book but in the days before the internet took off, friends started passing dog-eared copies around. and bookstores started asking for it. >> at that point i thought, you know, maybe i should send this to publishers. they all quickly rejected the book. >> reporter: so evans self-published. only after his book hit the best seller list, did a major publisher buy it for a reported $4 million. so in a way, he became a godfather to a whole new generation of authors who are writing the next chapter in the saga of self-publishing. >> a title page. the chapters are separated. so i'm good to go. >> reporter: take stephanie bond who is issuing her latest work right from her atlanta home. >> this is is actually a boxed set. i called the boxed set "love can

be murder." >> reporter: that's right. with just a few strokes, bond is creating an electronic or e-book. you're publishing as you're watching. >> right. eporter: it's one of the strongest trends in publishing. with estimates that more than 200,000 books were self-published last year. authors like bond by-passing the traditional publishing houses. >> for the longest time publishers have been able to dictate what is on the shelf. they've been the gate-keepers. >> reporter: but not anymore. bond did have 60 books, mostly romance novels, published the traditional way before she struck out on her own. was it a little scary? >> it was but at that point i really didn't have a choice. my publisher had decided that they were going to drop the series that i had written. i didn't have any money coming in. >> reporter: but now with romance one of the hottest

categories for self-published books, her novels are flying off the virtual shelves. this past week a bond book was number two on amazon's kindle best seller list. although she no longer gets advances or up-front payments for her work, she creates royalties of up to 70% instead of the 10-15% publishers usually pay. and even with charging only 99 cents for some books, bond says she made more than half a million dollars in the last year. but not everyone sees this as a bonanza. >> when you price a book at 99 cents, $1.99 i personally think it devalues the author's time and effort. >> reporter: how long have you been in the world of publishing? >> i've been about 35 years. reporter: jamie rabb is the chief of grand central publishing, part of the book

company. her label puts out books by a lot of heavy hitters and many lesser known writers too. you know that there are almost a movement amongst some popular writers who are self-published to say don't go to the publishers: they rip you off. they don't really promote your books unless you're a really really big seller. and they keep most of the money. don't those authors have a point? >> no. they don't. i really, you know i've worked in publishing a long time. i see what happens to a book when it's acquired. first of all they're proof read. they have a team of professional artists that come up with a wonderful package. they have a team of marketers who try to figure out, you know, even for brooks we don't spend a lot of money on, we try to figure out how to get them to the public. >> reporter: but raaw is well aware that she is part of a shrinking industry. even without the the backing of a big-time publisher, a number

of self-published authors are racking up huge sales. does that worry you at all? >> no. as a matter of fact, editors and agents they're looking at amazon best seller list, they're looking at the "new york times" best seller list and they're looking for potential new authors too. we've found a couple of them. >> reporter: but only a tiny portion of self-published books do make it big mostly through word of mouth or the blogosphere rather than mainstream reviews. >> i get a lot of people sending me self-published books. it's tough. >> reporter: "time" magazine book critics lev grossman, himself a published awe thofer authorize, acknowledged that he pays more attention if a book comes from a traditional publisher. >> when i am looking at hundreds of thousands of self-published books by people i've never heard of, i just don't know what to do with a lot of them. >> reporter: but he dismisses the idea that publishers always produce better books.

>> i often look at traditionally published books and think, how the hell did this get published? a lot of stuff gets published on both sides that probably shouldn't. >> reporter: still it seems that nothing trumps the will to publish. even in print. for those who still want a product they can hold, there's the expresso machine. >> there it is. reporter: which turns out bound paperbacks in places like manhattan's mcnally jackson bookstore. coordinator beth seidel says printing prices start at just $19. she's seen a big increase in self-publishing. >> in the beginning, you know, it was maybe $50 a... 50 books a month. now on average we print 1,000 books a month. >> reporter: the store even sells book it prints, a bill thrill for silver krygier whose romantic comedy was turned down

by traditional publishers. >> my dream is just to see people sitting in the cafes sipping a cappuccino and reading my little funny book. >> reporter: and why not dream? there's plenty of precedent. a long list of successful authors self-published even before the current boom. of course, the author of the christmas box must have a great christmas tree. >> i love christmas. reporter: including rich evans. with 22 best sellers and 15 million books in print, he is is delighted that self-publishing is easier for today's fledgling writers. >> there's really powerful stories out there that need to be heard. the cream will still rise to the top. there will be things that will gain track shannon grow. i'm all for it. ill think it's wonderful. >> i see huge changes. reporter: even big-time publishers whose livelihood may be a bit threatened, give the

do-it-yourself crowd a lot of respect. >> the fact that you have a channel for getting your book published and read, i think that's very good for authors. i applaud anyone who says i'm not giving up. i'm going to find a way. >> osgood: coming up, on a roll. any usefull apps on that thing? e who do you think i am, quicken loans? ♪ at quicken loans, our amazingly useful mortgage calculator app allows you to quickly calculate your mortgage payment based on today's incredibly low interest rates... right from your iphone or android smartphone. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. ♪

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now a page from our sunday morning almanac. december 9, 1884, 128 years ago today, an honored day in the annals of sure-footed speed for that was the day richardson received a patent for an innovative kind of roler skate, one whose wheels spun smoothly on shiny ball bearings. his fangled skates left older models in the dust and helped to propel skating to the first rank of pastimes. its popularity in the early 20th century was the occasion for gags in the 1968 film funny girl. >> are you sure you can roler skate? >> can i roler skate? osgood: with barbra streisand as an out of control roler skating chorus girl. >> i thought you could skate.

didn't know i could. osgood: whether on the sidewalks or in big public rinks skating continued to be a popular sport. during tv's early days, roler derbies were a broadcast staple. ♪ skate in the roler derby >> osgood: beginning in the 1980s in-line skates began to nudge out the traditional four wheel skate aleast among the daring young. while the perhaps not so daring older crowd was drawn to skating at the local rink to the accompaniment of live organists. as our bill geist discovered back in 2007 when he visited the rink in new jersey. >> i love the organ music. if they put a disk on or a tape on, i don't like to skate. >> we go over and we say play this for us. >> reporter: what's your favorite song? >> the stripper. osgood: sadly that rink is is now closed but never fear. dedicated skaters of every age

and every level of proficiency always seem to find a place to strut their stuff. ♪ i got a brand new pair of roler skates ♪ ♪ you got a brand new key >> osgood: behind the scenes of the hobbit with andy serkis. just ahead. i'm a conservative investor. i invest in what i know. i turned 65 last week. i'm getting married. planning a life. there are risks, sure. but, there's no reward without it. i want to be prepared for the long haul. i see a world bursting with opportunities. india, china, brazil, ishares, small-caps, large-caps, ishares. industrials. low cost. every dollar counts. ishares. income. dividends. bonds. i like bonds. ishares. commodities.

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>> osgood: how does a flesh-and-blood humor actor become a strange little creature on the silver screen. as anthony mason shows us now, it's magic. >> reporter: the face may not be familiar. but actor andy serkis has starred in some of this century's biggest blockbusters. when you sit in a theater and you look up and see gollum, do you think that's me? >> yeah absolutely. ou're a liar. especially because gollum's face is designed around mine. can't you tell? >> you don't have any friends. reporter: in the lord of the rings trilogy, serkis stars as the conflicted creature gollum. reprising his role in the new film the hobbit, serkis again uses the gutterral voice he discovered in his kitchen. >> i actually watched one of my

cats cough up a fur ball. when a cat coughs up fur balls he goes (making a sound) like that. which i began to use. so that became the voice of gollum. >> reporter: serkis was hired originally just to provide the voice for an animated gollum. but his physical performance on set was so convincing that director peter jackson went off script. >> we started to look at andy and thinking, is there a way that we can get what he's giving us actually in the film? >> reporter: so jackson and his team helped pioneer a new technology called motion capture. to build the animation from serkis' performance. >> andy is very brave. he's very courageous. he's not scared of performance capture. >> i remember the first day of putting on a motion-capture suit

and seeing a very rudimentary gray-shaded version of gollum when i was lifting up my right hand, gollum was lifting up his right hand. it was like a magic mirror sort of looking at you thinking wow. >> reporter: this is your old neighborhood. >> it is. i went to school about two minutes up the road that way actually. >> reporter: serkis grew up in actually. >> reporter: serkis grew up in west london brought up by his mother a teacher while his father worked in baghdad. >> my dad was a doctor. he built a hospital out in iraq. >> reporter: he started acting in college. and he built a steady career in films like "sex, drugs and rock'n'roll." and 13-going-on-30. >> here's to early retirement. reporter: but lord of the rings changed everything. when you were finished with lord of the rings, you were expecting going back to regular acting. >> yeah (laughing) right. reporter: then you came at him with king congress.

>> yeah, yeah. reporter: serkis played kong in jackson's next film. >> andy couldn't go back into the boring old world of live action. >> reporter: and then caesar, the intelligent chimp who leads a revolution in "rise of the planet of the apes." serkis became so enamoured with the technology that he's opened his own studio, the imaginarium. there are 80 cameras in this room. >> we're shortly to go up to 100. >> reporter: the cameras positioned all around the stage send out infrared pulses that read the markers on the actor's suit. >> these markers can drive a virtual bones. >> reporter: virtual bones. so it's a very simple primitive skeleton. >> reporter: the actor performs within a computer-animated world. >> this is the virtual world we've created. the sets are being built.

we're seeing a reflection in the mirror. >> reporter: the studio's first major production will be a film of george orwell "animal farm "which the 48-year-old serkis will direct. >> the irony of being the face of performance-capture acting is that your face isn't actually that well known. >> which is fine by me. i like the anonimity that i have. >> reporter: it's the performance that andy serkis would like to see get more respect. do you think there will be an oscar category for you some day? >> i think there could be an oscar category for performance-capture. it's not a type of acting. it's acting. >> osgood: great scott. a conversation with ewan macgregor is coming you. but first... >> welcome to downtown. osgood: we head to downtown abbey. they were coming. we knew it.

there's only so much you can do to prepare for an all-out assault like that. we hunkered down, we braced ourselves... we just didn't have the numbers on the ground. what did we do?

we used our navy federal cashrewards card to fly in reinforcements. nana. hoooaah! alright nana! >> first electricity, now telephones. sometimes i fear as if i were living in an h.g. wells novel. >> reporter: it's sunday morning on cbs and here again is charles osgood. >> osgood: that's maggie smith coming to uncertain grips with the early 20th century in a

hugely popular pbs series downtown abbey now entering its third yearment many have dreamed of visiting that stately home but our martha teichner has actually done it. >> reporter: oh, boy, here we go. >> from war and peace downtown still stands. >> reporter: shirley maclaine arrives in season 3 to take on dame maggie smith. >> i'm so looking forward to seeing your mother again. when i'm with her, i'm reminded of the virtues of the english. >> isn't she american? exactly. reporter: true fans can't wait for this battle of the acting legends. never mind top chef. the knives are out and ever so sharp at downtown abbey. >> oh, dear. i'm afraid the war has made old women of us both. >> i wouldn't say that. but then i always keep out of the sun.

>> reporter: in case you've been under a rock for the last two years and have never heard of pbs's sudsy blockbuster, here's a quick primmer. >> of course this alters everything. >> reporter: downtown abbey is the fictional home of robert crawly, the earl of grandsome and his american life lady cora. he's got the title. she's got the money. >> i think i owe you an apology after the way i spoke at dinner. >> next time you treat me like a naughty school girl you might do it in private not in front of the servants. >> reporter: one look at the class picture will tell you how many plot lines there are. the series begins in 1912. >> welcome to downtown. reporter: it works its way through world war i and is is now inching into the 1920s. years of major upheaval in british society as a whole for

the aristocracy especially. >> because i want the pleasure of saying i told you so. >> reporter: season 3 spoiler coming up. >> are you really telling me that all the money is gone? >> i'm afraid so. the lion's share of cora's fortune. >> we knew that this series would to a certain extent be the charting of the downfall of this particular class. it would be their side lining politically, their undermining financially. >> reporter: julian fellows who created downtown abbey was flabbergasted by the worldwide audience response. >> no one is prepared for this extraordinary kind of whirlwind that took place. >> i've given my life to downtown. >> reporter: the show is seen in 170 countries. >> downtown abbey. reporter: it's been om natured for 27 emmys and has won

nine. it's been a critical and ratings bonanza for pbs's master piece which nearly passed on it. >> i actually was a little hesitant i can truthfully say. >> reporter: now master piece executive producer rebecca eaton is awfully glad she said yes. >> it's a cherry on top of the sundae or the peacake. >> tea or not. reporter: speaking of confections, addicted as i am to downtown abbey, what could be sweeter than to be part of the first u.s. network television crew ever allowed on the set? in april during the shooting of season 3... >> of course i knew, thank you. reporter: ... for months on end, the cast and crew take over high clear castle, the home of a real earl in the english countryside southwest of london. you can't help saying to yourself, oh, it's lord grant a.m.

and then, no, it's the actor hugh bonville. >> we all have different parts to play, matthew. and we must all be allowed to play them. >> i think people expect me to behave like a lord and have a labrador at my heels all the time. i don't. you know, i go to the supermarket in my jeannes and sweat shirt. >> reporter: or to his trailer in a t-shirt. but for downtown fans, it's hard not to think of dan stevens as matthew crawly, hare to downton abbey and major heart throb. how do you deal with that? >> i just carry it. reporter: does it get embarrassing at times? >> no, it's lovely. i can't pretend i don't like it. >> reporter: that's actress michelle daugherty in the gray as herself, goofing around before her take. here she is as lady mary, one of lord grantham's daughters

engaged to matthew finally after two seasons of agonizing, will they, won't they? >> lady mary crawly, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? >> yes. reporter: part of the fun is being on set was trying to figure out what the scenes being shot gave away about season 3. >> i'm sorry, to snatch him away. >> reporter: hmmmm. this at least is obvious. >> looking forward to the wedding? >> what do you think? i'm looking forward to all sorts of things. >> don't make me blush. reporter: in the wardrobe trailer while we were there, what was being picked out for the next day's shooting looked right for a wedding. but whose? >> that's where the hierarchy matters. >> reporter: see that man? his name is alster bruce. his job is historical advisor

meaning correctness cop. >> in britain, in the year 1920, there was a way in which somebody who lived in an or it throw karat i can family would expect to be treated and to interact and to treat somebody from below stairs. >> reporter: below stairs, the domain of the servants is actually a sound stage in london. >> this is downtown abbey, the butler speaking. >> reporter: the big drama here is what will become of mr. bates? >> thank you. i'll do that. >> no, no, thank you, my lord. reporter: for the uninitiated he's the valet lame from a war wound who begins season 3 in prison wrongly convicted of murdering his vile wife. house maid anna is his long-suffering true love. >> you never dawted for just one minute?

i wouldn't blame you. >> no. reporter: downtown abbey is a phenomenon. as actor brendan coyle discovered when he went to morocco on vacation. >> i just got sort of mobbed. people from all over, from ireland, denmark, australia, iceland, spain. shouting, did you kill your wife? did you kill your wife? >> i think she's dead. reporter: for downtown's younger relatively unknown stars, the show has been life changing. emmy-nominated michelle daugherty was on the cover of vanity fair undressed. >> it's thrilling actually to be a part of something that's captured the hearts of the world. >> reporter: dan stevens is currently on broadway, signing autographs at the stage door every night. >> you two can stay here.

reporter: but joanne froggett, anna, also nominated for an emmy this year may have the best story. >> this is my most fabulous year ever actually. it's incredible with all the success of downtown, the emmy nominations, three movies coming out this year. i'm also getting married this year which is a big, big news. >> reporter: like downtown abbey, you know a show is big when it gets spoofed. >> what is this about? if we don't find an hare, it will take back the franchise from us. >> reporter: come on now. downtown arby's? >> i love downtown arby's. t's not downtown arby's, it's downton arby's. >> osgood: coming up all in the family. getting cash back on what?

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>> osgood: high school football is a cherished tradition in communities across the country. for one minnesota family, the game will never be quite the same again. steve hartman has the view from the stands. >> reporter: it was cold the night this high school in minnesota played its final football game of the year. cold enough to make your eyes water. which is what i thought was happening to parent karen aho. but then i got a closer look. and saw she was feeling a lot more than the wind chill. >> it's been a great run. reporter: for karen and her husband tom this game marks the end of an era, the end of their reign as two of the longest-serving football parents in america. >> it's hard. reporter: over the past quarter century they have been to countless games cheering on

countless sons. how many boys do you have? do you know? that was the easy question. maybe not for you. >> 12 boys. reporter: 12 boys. 12 boys. 12 football players. spaced out just so that at least one of them has been on every team at this high school every year since 1989. 24 straight seasons of knee sprains, grass stains and night games. mom and dad have n.r.a.y missed a single contest. screaming like teenagers, cursing like true minnesotans. >> oh, sugar. reporter: cheering on each child like an only child. >> you've got to do it. come on. >> mom and dad, it's obviously they were passionate about their football and their sports and their kids. >> reporter: steve is the oldest at 38. seth the youngest at 18. in between too many to name or for that matter. what, another one? even notice them all. what's amazing is he wasn't here and we didn't even miss him.

is there any part of you that is glad it's over? >> no. reporter: until now, krn says she's been able to avoid the hardest part of parenting. >> i can never say my kids grew up so fast because there's always another one right there. you know, so... but now i'll probably feel it. >> reporter: fortunately karen and tom do have 49 grand kids so it's a little early to start buying ceramics again. but on this night at this moment that was a little consolation. on this night at this moment, all the ahos wanted was just a little more time on the clock. >> osgood: ahead singing the praises of bruno mars.

♪ today i don't feel like i could win anything ♪ ♪ i just want to lay in my bed ♪ >> osgood: bruno mars and friends. he's the one in the middle. he's singing the lays he'll song. all told his music videos have been viewed a staggering one billion times on you-tube. not bad for a singer who was dumped by a big record label bones upon a time. but this morning bruno mars talks to lee cowan for the record. >> just the way you are. reporter: by his own definition bruno mars is amuseical melting pot. he can spin from pop to r and b to reggae at the drop of that signature fedorov. ♪ when i see your face ♪ there's not a thing that i would change ♪ ♪ i love you ♪ just the way you are >> reporter: what would you say

your style is? >> what's my style? i'm a singer. i'm just a singer. >> reporter: it's the way he sings his love songs that put mars into orbit just two years ago. ♪ but darling, >> reporter: grenade and just the way you are -- both reached number one on the billboard charts. becoming two of the best-selling singles of all time. ♪ today i don't feel like i can do anything ♪ >> reporter: his debut album sold more than five million copies. he was billboard's top male artist last year. this week he'll release his second album called fittingly enough, unorthodox juke box. at 27, the boy from hawaii seems to have it all. is it sort of a precarious being on top of the peak?

>> i'm a happy dude, lee. the fact that i even get to feel this at this moment is enough. enough. >> reporter: he was born peter gene hernandez on the island of oauhu to a puerto rican father and a filipino mother. his dad nicknamed him bruno after a popular wrestler. bruno added mars years later. for him and his five siblings music was always the family business. >> my dad had this 1950s review show. very las vegas style. my uncle impersonated elvis. that was my favorite part of the show. >> reporter: even when you were two years old. >> even then. especially the young elvis like, girls were screaming for him. as a young kid, you're like i want that. >> reporter: so when his dad put bruno on stage, he did the only thing he knew.

his mini-elvis was an instant hit. becoming so popular that little bruno was given a cameo in the movie "honeymoon in vegas." ♪ i can't help falling in love with you ♪ >> i became a real, real attention whore. after that. ♪ i want to be a billionaire ♪ so fricking bad >> reporter: at 18 he moved to los angeles. he and his brother started a cover-band jokingly called sex panthers. he began performing any place that would have him places like pickwick's pub in l.a.'s san fernando valley. >> oh, my god. you finally came back. >> reporter: you were writing a little bit of your own stuff then? >> a little bit. i had a couple tunes we would try out here.

>> reporter: soon he had inked a deal with motown records and left pickwick's for bigger gigs or so he thought. it turns out pickwick's actually left bruno first. >> did you fire me? i thought i left this place. >> reporter: within a few months, motown had left him too. releasing him from his contract without ever putting out an album. >> how much of a blow was that when they dropped you? >> the biggest blow. that was a hard phone call, to call my mom and dad and say, i'm no longer a signed artist. i got to rethink this whole thing. >> reporter: broke, he started going to pawn shops. his guitars were all he had left to sell. going home to honolulu was tempting. but he resisted. >> if i moved back to hawaii, then i felt like i would have never made it back up here. i would have been at the polynesian review with a ukelele and an aloha shirt probably

singing elvis tunes again. >> reporter: so he teamed up with two other songwriters, philip lawrence and ari levine. their goal? to write a hit song. >> we knew that we could do it. if we kept going, if kept trying, if we kept pushing we were going to write the song that's going to change our lives. >> reporter: and it did. yeah. wrote a few songs that changed our lives. you see the jewelry. ♪ go ♪ go all over the world >> reporter: performed with hip hop artist hit first. ♪ they've got nothing on you >> reporter: then he cowrite the smash "forget you."

finally bruno got his second chance at a label. he made the most of it. just the way you are won a grammy, one of 13 nominations for him over the past two years and solidified his status as a star and a heart throb. there were those who still had their doubts. there were some critics that said it was too sugary, too soft, to simultaneousy. >> they can go to hell. reporter: does that bother you? >> it doesn't bother me. it's just shut up. you know? you write a song then. that's how i feel. ♪ it's better if you don't understand ♪ >> reporter: but just as everything was beginning to click came the summer. in september of 2010, bruno was arrested for cocaine possession. the bust in las vegas. >> had to do it. reporter: did it... was it eye opening though to your fame that it became headlines

everywhere that... >> i was... mmmm... i was embarrassed. it was very... me being extremely extremely careless and not thinking. >> reporter: he got probation and moved on and up. this year he helped headline the grammies. rocked the victoria secret fashion show. and even hosted saturday night live. >> when they told you that you were going to have to dress up in drag? what did you say? >> you know what? reporter: you looked good by the way. >> thank you. appreciate that.

>> reporter: his new album shows a more mature song with more adult themes. like the single "locked out of heaven." what was the inspiration for that? >> the inspiration for "locked out of heaven" i don't know if i can say it on tv. come on, lee. we're grown men. >> reporter: as he did from the start, bruno surrounds himself with friends and family. his brother still plays in the band. as for hawaii, bruno did finally go home after all. to a packed arena. >> i'm home. reporter: or perhaps not so coincidentally elvis once performed. >> ever since i was a kid, this is all i've wanted to do.

i've wanted to do music. i've wanted to sing. that's all i know. ♪ just the way you are all those hard times, it feels like it goes to show that if you put in the work and you don't stop believing, then it can happen. >> thank you so much. ( cheers and applause ) >> osgood: coming up, he's making a list. if the politicians in washington negotiate a bad deal on the

budget and deficit, what do you think will happen to medicare and medicaid benefits? and to our coverage? cutting hundreds of billions of dollars from medicare and medicaid will short change the people who need it the most. so if you don't want seniors to come up empty. call sen. warner and tell him don't make a bad deal that cuts our care.

snairlts 16 days until christmas now but who is counting. 'tis the season for gifts particularly gifts with an affordable price tag. david pogue of the "new york times" comes in, appropriately disguised.

>> reporter: you think you get stressed when you get on a flight? try my job to fly the whole world in one night. rein deer with rain ease and scrapes on the sleigh and that hurricane blue me away. but i do it, you know, for all it's for a good cause, to spread joy and gadgets that's me, techno-claus. now this year some folks are in financial jams so everything here is below 100 clams. the tablet, the i-pad, they're all of the rage. for your music, your books. it's a digital stage. but the speakers, my god, i mean, listen to that. ♪ we wish you a merry christmas ♪ >> reporter: it's got all of the strength of a sneeze from a gnat. so you put on the zuka, a slind rickel wedge, two good sounded speakers and it's right on the edge ♪ we wish you a merry

christmas ♪ and it's blue tooth, you know. look, ma, no wires. for your laptop, your car or wherever you desire. i love all the rein deer but this one here prancer keeps wandering off. guess what? here's the answer. it clips to his colonel or, no muss, no mess. and i track his whereabouts on g.p.s. these smart phones are marvels. one phone does it all. but they're easy to lose because they're getting so small. the i-alert tag fastens on to your keys. if you leave your phone, it will buzz like the bees. and the other way, too, if your keys get forgot, the phone will remind you. i like that a lot. some dazzling tech but looking

like this it's a pain in the neck. the blue tooth hand set connects with no cords. you'll love all the comfort and fun it affords. there's much to be said for this older design, nostalgia and color and straightness of spine. when i wear these apps, folks are somewhat aghast. they whisper he's had too much spike in his nog. you might think i've hidden in elf puppeteers but these are actually brain controlled ears. they perk up for happy and flap down for pain supposedly triggered from thought from my brain. it's a little bit random but i wear them because they get me more kisses than mistletoe does. today's e-book readers are swell, don't you think? they play movies, build websites and clean up your sink. you might wind up paying for more than you need. maybe all you're wanting to do is just read. behold, the plain kindle.

it doesn't do much. it doesn't light up. it doesn't have touch. what else brings such pleasure for $70? i tried milk and cookies. i tried counted sheep. the night before christmas i never could sleep. then from sound oasis there came to our home small stereo speakers inside of this phone. you took up your sound source. as easy as cake. and somehow it don't keep the miss us awake. so there's some ideas from your buddy st. nick. i hope that for your loved ones they do the trick. i wish you a white christmas now ere i fly but at this point i'm grateful i simply stay dry. made a commitment to the gulf.

>> osgood: , actor ewan macgregor. to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger. but we can still help you see your big picture. with the fidelity guided portfolio summary, you choose which accounts to track and use fidelity's analytics to spot trends, gain insights, and figure out what you want to do next. all in one place. i'm meredith stoddard and i helped create the fidelity guided portfolio summary. it's one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account.

yay! maddy, come on. wcome get into bed. this is a story about jingle the husky pup. and jingle was a good dog. ruff! ruff! jingle loved to bark hello. ruff! ruff! ruff! ruff! jingle even loved to sing. ruff! ruff! ruff! ruff! ruff! jingle! let's read the book to him. jingle, stay. and jingle did. ruff! ruff! [ female announcer ] hallmark interactive story buddies. when you read key words, jingle responds. >> why are you telling them you're turning the corner? >> you have stage 4 cancer. it's not as bad as that sounds. >> pop, there is no stage 5. it's sunday morning on cbs, and here again is charles osgood. >> osgood: ewan macgregor

with christopher plummer in the 2010 film beginners. far from being a beginner himself, macgregor has dozens of films to his credit and a reputation for being hollywood's great scvment cot. with his latest movie just about to be released he sat down with tracy smith for a few questions and answers. >> 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 reporter: ewan macgregor knew his latest role would be a chance to do something he hadn't done before. >> it was an opportunity to play a father for a first time in my career to really play a dad. i've been one for a long time. i've been a dad for 16 years >> reporter: yet making the impossible was a difficult decision. >> i wondered why you would make a film about that. why would you do that? is it right to do that? is it right to be making a movie about a disaster that really happened where so many people lost their lives?

>> reporter: that disaster, the 2004 tsunami in the indian ocean, killed more than 200,000 people and left two million more homeless. the impossible tells the true story of one family who survived. >> i felt that by watching this one family's path through it, you got a great deal of understanding about it. it is about human nature >> reporter: naomi watts and macgregor who has four daughters in real life play the parents of four boys on christmas vacation in thailand. then the tsunami hit. and the family gets separated. >> we create a family that we hope people care about and want to follow >> reporter: then the family goes through hell. >> hell, yeah. they're not here. what do you mean not there? it came and sucked everyone

away. (crying) >> reporter: did you draw on your experience as a father for that? think about your kids? >> i never ever made myself think about my kids. it might sort of devastate me too much if i was thinking about being separated from my children. >> water! reporter: to recreate the tsunami, they used real water, 5,000 gallons of it churned through a tank with such violent force that you wonder each time the actors go under whether they'll actually come back up. incredible >> extraordinarily uncomfortable to watch. when i saw the film for the first time i was physically moved around in my chair. >> reporter: even you? eally uncomfortable to watch eporter: he's 41 and has

made nearly 50 films. but macgregor has never been nominated for an oscar. if his fellow actors are to be believed the impossible may change that. angelina jolie has been raving about the film >> she was so sweet reporter: particularly your performance. she said that you made brad cry. >> when i came up, that was all on my own. it was the scariest part. and then i saw the two of you clinging to the tree. i didn't feel so scared anymore because i knew i wasn't on my own, you see. >> i don't want to make people cry, but i want to make people, through your work you want to make people feel. if crying is part of that, that's good. >> reporter: macgregor lives in los angeles now with his wife of 17 years, ev, and their daughters who they keep out of the public eye. does this gloomy weather remind you of home? >> yes. it's warmer than it would be at home at this time of year >> reporter: he grew up in

scottland, the son of school teachers. he learned early on that he'd rather be on stage than in a classroom. >> i was unhappy. i was in trouble all the time. one night my mom said to me, i've spoken to your dad. if you want to leave school, you can. i never looked back. i was gone. i was out. i was only just 16. i had nothing ahead of me. >> reporter: his breakout role came in train spotting. >> your favorite dish reporter: playing a heroin addict. did you have a sense of making that film how huge it was going to be, how much that character was going to resonate? >> yes. i was always very assured of myself when i was younger. i was incredibly arrogant in sort of a confident way. >> i'm cleaning up and i'm moving on. going straight and choosing life >> reporter: when he was younger like so many actors, his confidence was bolstered by a bottle. was there a time when you drank to excess? >> oh, yeah.

a time? (laughing) an epoch >> reporter: his drinking days ended more than a decade ago >> trying to be a good dad and a good husband and a good drinker doesn't work. the only one i was happy to get rid of was the drinking, you know >> reporter: shortly after train spotting, macgregor chose to do a period film emma to show his range >> is your horse just washing his feet or are there darker forces at work here >> reporter: it's the one career move he regrets. >> i did terrible in it. reporter: it hardly mattered. in the late '90s macgregor was asked to play the young obi-wan kenobi in the three star we wills prequels >> i was quite careful about it. i didn't jump at the idea straight away >> reporter: he asked his uncle, a veteran actor who played a pilot in the original film, for advice. what did he tell you? >> he said don't do it reporter: don't do it. so you didn't listen to him

>> if you want to have a career after that, don't do it. i didn't take his advice because the closer i got the more i wanted to do it >> reporter: why? it's exciting to be obi-wan kenobi, you know. >> good-bye, old friend. may the force be with you. >> reporter: his daughters haven't been nearly as thrilled. doesn't make dad cooler that he's obi-wan kenobi >> i don't think so. i don't know if it's because they're girls. maybe it's more of a boy thing. i've never had them say daddy, daddy, can you put on that star wars outfit? i've never had them say that. >> reporter: his role in the romance moulon rouge was more to their liking. >> just amazingly powerful way of delivering words, to sing i love you to someone, we receive that as an audience in a very immediate and emotional place. >> i'll always be with you. reporter: the story of the young writer and the dying cabaret star was the first

musical in ten years to be nominated for an oscar. >> you know, i remember my eldest watching that. she was crying her eyes out. oh, my god, such a good job. she said, no, no, she was enjoying the experience of it but she was weeping >> reporter: macgregor has been known to bear more than his soul in some of his films. >> being naked is something that happens on either end of the day for me. if you're lucky somewhere in the middle as well. i don't understand why it's an issue. i didn't take my clothes off in movies because i want to flash my naked body around. i took my clothes off in movies because i'm an actor. i believe in my work and i believe in the movies that i make say something about the world. therefore they should reflect human instincts and natures and desires and part of that and a big part of that for us is our sexual life and our romantic

life. that's all i have to say. >> reporter: that says something about ewan macgregor. no matter what role he's in, on screen or in life, he's a guy who is comfortable in his own skin. >> osgood: coming up, one kind. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option: once-a-day xarelto®. xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem, that doesn't require routine blood monitoring.

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tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. it happened this week. the passing of two giants of two very different fields. oscar knee meyer, brazil's great modernist architect died wednesday in rio at the age of 104. he disdains straight lines in favor of curves. inspired he once said by the curves of brazillian women on the beach. though he helped design the united headquarters in new york,

it was in the new capital city built from scratch in a brazillian wilderness in the late 1950s that he brought his personal vision to full flower. >> there you can see these 11 buildings all in glass of the same shape >> osgood: the carefully designed city scape for futuristic buildings. officially opened in early 1960, it has had its share of critics over the years but this architect always defended his overall creation saying his buildings were meant to be spectacular leaving those who view them touched and unthesed. dave brubeck touched generations of fans through jazz. the california native and the veteran of world war ii, he went on to form a highly successful jazz quartet.

he made the cover of "time" magazine in 1954. ♪ and in 1959, he and his quartet released "time out" with its signature tune "take 5," the first jazz album to sell a million copies. brubeck and company were masters of improvisation which he explained to walter cronkite in a 1961 interview >> what is the goal of improvisation? >> it's our job to push ourselves as far as possible. >> osgood: he was an ambassador for american music in countless overseas tours with one of his performances even helping to break the ice at the reagan-gorbachev summit in moscow in 1988 as he recalled years later for our tracy smith >> the room started keeping time. all these people that almost

hated each other were swinging. >> reporter: altogether? altogether. osgood: he received a national medal of the arts from president clinton in 1994. and kennedy center honors in 2009. rhythm he said was the true international language. after all, your mother's heartbeat is the first sound you ever hear. and your own heartbeat is the last. dave brubeck died on wednesday in norwalk connecticut. one day before his 92nd birthday. you won't take my life.

you won't take our future. aids affects us all. even babies. chevron is working to stop mother-to-child transmission. our employees and their families are part of the fight. and we're winning. at chevron nigeria, we haven't had a reported case in 12 years.

aids is strong. aids is strong. but we are stronger. and aids... ♪ aids is going to lose. aids is going to lose. ♪ aids is going to lose. aids is going to lose. clusters of pustules, pimples. i had this shingle rash right next to my spine. the soreness was excruciating. it was impossible to even think about dancing. when you're dancing, your partner is holding you. so, his hand would have been right in the spot that i had the shingles. no tango. no rhumba. you can't be touched. for more of the inside story, visit shinglesinfo.com

interest on home mortgages. look, we're just barely limping off the bottom of a residential housing catastrophe. home buying and buildings are finally after a genuine nightmare reviving. if we could get housing back, that would go a long way towards full recovery for our economy. obviously take away the home

mortgage interest deduction is the very last thing the housing market needs. i'm not saying it would hit every home buyer but a home is an investment. if we lower the return on the investment, well, you get the picture. this bad idea has pay parentally meant the substitute for a tex increase on the wealthy. this is strange. the rich by definition are rich. that's why they're called rich. they could afford to pay more tax. the middle income home buyers or some of them need that mortgage interest deduction to buy. so you have the question, do we want to clobber housing hurting millions of home buyers, builders, construction worker and timber people or tax the people who have a bentley? how could this even be an open question? observe, my friends, with what little wisdom the world is governed. >> osgood: commentary from ben stein. now to bob scheiffer in washington for a look at what's ahead on face the nation. good morning, bob >> schieffer: good morning, charles. well, we've got erskine bowls

and alan simpson who headed up that deficit reduction commission and had so many good ideas that went nowhere. we'll see what they think about the fiscal cliff this morning. >> osgood: thank you, bob scheiffer. we'll be watching. and next week here on sunday morning ♪ >> osgood: amuseical flight are led zeppelin.

>> osgood: we leave you this sunday morning where the bison roam at slew creek in yellowstone national park.

>> osgood: i'm charles osgood. please join us again next sunday morning. until then, i'll see you on the radio. captioning made possible by johnson & johnson, where quality products for the american family have been a tradition for generations captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org